VEHICLE AND ENGINE IDENTIFICATION
The Boss 429 was a homologation special, and held a special spot in Ford’s racing history. As such, properly identifying each car is of paramount importance and, in turn, registration and validation has become very important for protecting the investment. So where do you look for the numbers that tell you that this is a real Boss 429 Mustang? Start by opening the driver-side door and looking at the identification plate that is riveted to the door.
This door tag above the data plate identifies this car as a Boss 429, KK 1493. The Ford Motor Company data plate gives the following information for the serial number 9F02Z164779.
Each car that went to Kar-Kraft was assigned a NASCAR KK number that was placed above the VIN on the driver-side door. By the end of the program, Ford and Kar-Kraft had produced 1,358 Boss 429 Mustangs over the two-year period. KK 1201 was the first Boss 429 Mustang; KK 2558 was the final car to roll out the door.
This NASCAR tire pressure sticker is on the driver-side door just above the data plate.
KK 1215 was the first car offered to the public. This means that KK 1201 through KK 1214 were engineering cars and engine development cars. Several cars went to important people within the organization. Car number KK 1205 was an example of an in-house car, and it went to Bunkie Knudsen. Another car, KK 1217, was a special concept car that eventually became a crash car. Used to test safety and collect crash test data, it was driven into a barrier to see how it would hold up. The first 63 or 64 were high-priority cars that went to certain dealerships for sponsored racers. The invoice on KK 1279 shows that it went to Glen Organ Ford in Compton, California. At one time, Glen Organ was considered a high-performance and racing dealership; it sponsored Dan Gurney’s 1964 or 1965 Galaxie in NASCAR racing.
| 9 | 1969 |
| F | Built in Dearborn |
| 02 | Mustang 2-door SportsRoof |
| Z | 429-4V Boss V-8 Engine |
| 164779 | Serial number of this Ford scheduled for production at Dearborn |
| 63B | Mustang 2-door SportsRoof |
| C | Paint Code |
| DAA | Black Clarion Knit Vinyl Hi-Back Bucket Seats |
| 05C | Scheduled for build date |
| 892001 | Transportation Services Ordering District under Domestic Special Order 2001 |
| V | 3.91 Trac-Lok Rear axle |
| 6 | 4-speed close-ratio manual transmission |
Check the front driver’s side of the engine for “HP 429” in raised letters. This verifies that it is a genuine Boss 429 block. These engines have a special equipment package that includes four-bolt main bearings, a forged-steel crankshaft, and forged-steel connecting rods.
According to Ford Motor Company, it lost several thousand dollars on each car built, but that was the cost of running the Boss 429 race program. The purpose was to get the 500 engines into the cars and out to the public to meet the NASCAR homologation requirement.
This Boss 429 has an HP block, and you can see the HP mark on the front of the block verifying its authenticity. Some of the mid- and late-1970s engines had what was called a mirror image 460 block. It was exactly the same block with no difference in the material. When Ford built an engine, several casting core boxes were used. From the very beginning, Ford used one casting core box for the front, two side boxes, a rear, and one that went down in the valley chamber.
The serial number on this 429 block is located on the driver-side rear. The engine number and the serial number match, meaning that it’s a numbers-matching car.
The casting number is stamped on the center housing of the differential.
Anytime there are rare cars, there is always a chance that someone will create a clone and try to pass it off as an original. That has happened at least once with the Boss 429 Mustang. When buying or selling, you need to do thorough research on the car because buying a Boss 429 is an enormous investment. You need to check the VIN, all identification numbers, and look it up in the Boss 429 registry. Full documentation is available on all Boss Mustangs, including when they were built, when they were shipped, to whom they went, and practically everything about the car, including the mileage.
MARTI AUTO WORKS
Lois Eminger was a long-time employee of Ford Motor Company and a car person. When Ford was preparing to destroy batches of invoices, Lois recognized the value of these vehicle records and asked if she could keep them. These invoices included some of the most popular cars of the 1960s and 1970s. Kevin Marti had been acquainted with Lois Eminger for 20 years. After she retired, she eventually sold the invoices and records to Kevin Marti. He continues the time-honored tradition of making those records available to rightful car owners. Although Lois passed away some time ago, her vision helped many people keep important original documentation.
Marti is the privileged licensee (contract number 5012) to Ford Motor Company’s entire production database for the 1967–2007 model years. Marti can tell you everything about any Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury built in the United States or Canada during that period. What color was your car? Easy. What rear axle ratio? Sure. What day was the car sold? Yeah, even that, and a whole lot more. Unfortunately, data is not available for vehicles 1966 and earlier.
Ford used these original documents to bill the dealer. They contain the complete option list and, generally, the wholesale and retail costs of the base vehicle, all options, and shipping. These invoices also contain vehicle destination to the original dealer along with the trim code, date the invoice was prepared, and several other items.